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Author Biography

Stefan Vucak is an award-winning author of seven techno sci-fi novels, including With Shadow and Thunder which was a 2002 EPPIE finalist. His Shadow Gods Saga books have been highly acclaimed by critics. His recent release, Cry of Eagles, won the coveted 2011 Readers Favorite silver medal award. Stefan leveraged a successful career in the Information Technology industry and applied that discipline to create realistic, highly believable storylines for his books. Born in Croatia, he now lives in Melbourne, Australia.

Book Review

Reviewed by Fiona Ingram for Readers' Favorite

Working as a researcher in the Vatican’s Secret Archives, Father Garbaldi finds an ancient papyrus hidden in a codex from Alexandria. He has no idea about the imminent events that will turn his world upside down, making him a fugitive from his own church. What he does know is that the information contained in the papyrus holds terrible repercussions for the Roman Catholic Church worldwide and for Western civilization as a whole. He decides, as a scientist, to have the papyrus independently validated. Members within the Vatican also have their hidden agendas, and those include protecting the position of the Church at all costs, even if it means eliminating potential threats. The Vatican Secret Service, The Entity, a secret body dating from the sixteenth century, briefs an assassin to remove obstacles and retrieve the document before it is published. Knowing only the name Tom Meecham, an FBI agent he read about in the newspaper, Father Garbaldi involves the FBI in this minefield of drama and high tension.

This is a must-read novel involving an international trail of investigation, historical cover-ups, some damning evidence about the Catholic Church (sensitive readers may not like!), and a whole lot of action guaranteed to make readers rethink Dan Brown for gripping drama. The author has also kept links with two interesting characters from previous novels: Thomas Meecham, FBI agent, and Mark Price, Department of Homeland Security. This keeps a familiar thread running through from previous novels ("Cry of Eagles" and "Towers of Darkness") and generates extra interest. The wealth of background research and information certainly adds to a story that spans a few thousand years and draws the reader back into centuries-old theological battles without overwhelming the plot. An interesting, compelling novel, which I recommend highly.